


forget-me-not blues

by Beyond_the_Grace



Series: kindness blooms [6]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Book 2: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Gen, Good Regulus Black, Harry Potter was Adopted by Other(s), Harry Potter was Raised by Other(s), Hufflepuff Harry Potter, Manipulative Albus Dumbledore, Not Canon Compliant, Regulus Black Lives, intentionally lowercase
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:48:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27978351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beyond_the_Grace/pseuds/Beyond_the_Grace
Summary: hufflepuff has a rough start and why are all these kids going missing?harry is back at hogwarts for a second year but things seem to be even more eventful than the firstand why can they not get a good dada teacher
Relationships: Daphne Greengrass & Theodore Nott, Harry Potter & Blaise Zabini, Luna Lovegood & Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom & Blaise Zabini, Neville Longbottom & Harry Potter, Neville Longbottom & Theodore Nott, Theodore Nott & Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott & Harry Potter
Series: kindness blooms [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1773583
Comments: 6
Kudos: 156





	forget-me-not blues

**Author's Note:**

> forget me not...get it?

harry started his second year off just like any other. he cheered for all the houses in the sorting (if he cheered for a certain ravenclaw a bit louder no one was to know) and kept up his polite small talk with his fellow hufflepuffs. he found himself engaging with one of the older years, a kind boy called cedric who he had sort of noticed the year before. they spoke about quidditch and cedric told him there was an opening for chaser that year that harry was definitely going to try out for. every so often harry would look over his friends at the other tables in his own way of checking in on them. whilst he had enjoyed his summer he knew that not all his friends had guardians that were as nice as his. a quick glance at gryffindor showed neville longbottom talking with the two weasley twins whilst the weasley in their own year glared at the boy. ron weasley was a boy who, from the little harry had seen, was prone to jealousy and conspiracy and whilst the boy was always driven to do the right thing he and harry had clashed a fair amount the year before. neville hadn't seemed to notice the other boy's glare though, which harry was grateful to see. he had felt a bit guilty since last year for stealing neville away and depriving his house of the kind boy's friendship.

over at the ravenclaw table the strange girl (apparently called luna), who had given harry the sea glass during the summer, was sat a little away from her house mates but she was looking around the hall in such fascination that harry was half convinced the girl hadn't noticed her own rejection. just as he was looking over though her head snapped to meet his eyes and she stared him down. he stared back a little unsure. the stare was wide and wild, not the usual fascination or glare harry was used to. he didn't feel threatened or warmth from it. luna stared in pure sincerity, harry found he didn't mind.

finally he turned his attention to the slytherin table where the last of his friends sat. blaise zabini sat with a blank expression eating his meal in silence but harry was not concerned by this in the slightest. blaise was probably the politest boy he had ever met and definitely the fanciest, even his uncle's etiquette was not on par with blaise. but harry knew blaise better than most and so he was comfortable in saying that blaise seemed quite content. theodore nott sat beside him talking to the blonde girl across from the pair, unfortunately he seemed to be doing this instead of eating. harry knew it was weird of him to monitor his friend's eating but theodore had the unhealthy habit of not eating if he was stressed out. whilst prone to dramatics theo was nearly as closed off as blaise was when it came to the more serious matters and so harry took his tells where he could. 

harry was hoping for a quiet year if he was honest. the dramatics of the year before had been difficult and even now he felt his palms sweat at the thought of that corridor on the third floor, he hoped none of his classes would be there.

"good summer harry?" justin finch-fletchly asked, breaking him out of his thoughts.

"yeah, we spent a weekend in brighton but stayed home for the most part." harry replied, realizing that this was already shaping up to be the longest conversation he had with his dorm mate. it wasn't that he didn't like justin, it was just that justin seemed quite stuck up in a way that reminded harry a bit of draco malfoy.

"that's a shame. mother decided we just had to travel this summer, she thought i'd been missing out you see. we went to all the nicest cities in europe. i must say that i think capri was my favourite. not to mention the time we spent in the house in madrid. it does make this scottish weather seem quite miserable, no?" ah, of course. the reason justin had engaged was to brag. harry privately thought it was a shame that justin, ron and draco couldn't all be locked in a room together to see who would try to out talk the other two.

"what about you hannah?" harry cut in as justin took a breath. hannah abbott was a lovely girl who was a bit shy but was always sure to say hello to harry, he found himself quite fond of his fellow hufflepuff. she was also best friends with susan bones who was equally nice, though a bit more fiery.

"oh i really didn't do much. i went round susan's but my parents were working through most of the holidays."

"did they not think to book holiday?" justin asked and harry noticed that cedric had seemingly begun paying attention to their conversation rather than the one he had been having with one of his beaters. "my father booked a whole month off and mother doesn't work so the other two weeks were very pleasant."

"they can't just book holiday like that justin. we can't all be spoilt little rich boys." susan butted in, glaring at the muggleborn boy.

"how's he spoilt? just because his mum doesn't work?" ernie defended. "if you want rich turned to mr boy-who-lived here."

"my aunt and uncle both work. besides what did i do?" harry was surprised when justin snorted at this.

"like you don't know, you hang out with those snake freaks like your one of them whilst they walk around with their noses in the air like evil overlord wannabes." ernie snapped.

"my friends aren't freaks, they're nice people. just because i can see past house colours."

"like they're not going to curse me for being a 'mudblood' the second they get the chance. slytherins are all the same and you’re no better if you hang out with them."

"enough!" snapped cedric "i'll be reporting this to sprout you know. that was way out of order."

before he could say anything else though dumbledore interrupted to introduce the newest defence teacher, a blond pretty man called gildroy lockhart. by the stupid smile on the man's face harry knew it was going to be a long year.

"harry, susan, justin, cedric, hannah and ernie if you could stay behind." sprout called out as her welcoming speech came to an end. 

the six lingered behind on the overstuffed armchairs that suddenly seemed less and less comfortable and more and more awkward. the five second years all looked down at their feet in shame whilst cedric looked around the room trying to ignore the tension between the five.

"i was surprised when mr diggory here came to me saying there was a problem among the second years, i'll be honest, other than bullying from other houses i very rarely have to deal with this sort of thing. i like to think my badgers would come to me before things became escalated like this." harry felt a hot pool of guilt at the bottom of his stomach. he didn't know how things had so quickly gotten like this. "now who wants to explain to me what the hell happened?"

"justin said-"

"susan called-"

ernie and susan both started yelling and accusing at once till sprout put her hands up for them to stop. "one at a time please. now hannah, as your name wasn't yelled at me, what happened?"

"justin was being mean about the fact that my parents were working over the holidays and then when susan called him out on it they both started going after harry for being friends with slytherins." hannah explained.

"and justin?"

"susan called me spoilt because i went on holiday and i mention harry had done the same and that his friends were mean people who'd act like kings because of their blood whilst looking down on mine." justin said and harry felt the pool of guilt flood into anger. how dare anyone accuse his friends of that? like theo didn't spend all his time reading muggle classics and blaise didn't know the muggle political system better than anyone harry knew. "i just feel uncomfortable sharing a room with someone who may hold those beliefs."

harry couldn't hold it in anymore. "my aunt is literally a muggle, what the hell?"

"hmm." sprout looked more annoyed than harry had ever seen her. "cedric, care to shed some light on the situation?"

"i, uh, didn't hear the start but susan called justin spoilt then justin accused harry of the same and implied his friends were evil for their house and then justin agreed with ernie but was a bit more - uh- crude about the whole thing?" cedric looked incredibly uncomfortable to be there and harry felt both grateful and sorry for the older boy. he had been very nice to harry but getting into the confrontation had seemingly made him distressed.

"thank you cedric, you may leave now." sprout finally broke her anger to smile at the boy who seemed grateful to leave. "as for the rest of you, i'm disappointed. your house is supposed to be like family but this bickering is not acceptable. now justin, ernie and susan you will all have detention with me for the next two tuesdays and ernie and justin for a further one each. i will not have you discriminating against others based on their parent's work or their friends' house, am i clear?"

they all nodded solemnly.

"good, now get to bed and harry please stay behind."

the others went down to their dorms, not without both boys glaring at harry as they left till it was just harry and his head of house.

"i only started teaching here in your parent's last year so i have very few memories of them. however over the summer the headmaster felt the need to tell us all of your uncle's identity, a secret that mr black had been fine at hiding for over a decade. i remember regulus well, i think i was one of the few who preferred him to his brother. i see a lot of him in you." harry smiled at that. "he wasn't a nice boy but the way he was with those friends of his made me think he would have done well in my house. sometimes when i see you with your friends all i can see is james potter with his friends but other times i see young regulus black with crouch and rosier. half of your father's pranks were the work of your uncle even if i was the only one who knew it,

both your parents were very loyal to their friends and i am glad to see you are the same. those slytherin boys of yours will do well by you, don't let anyone tell you different. and if you ever want a chat you know where my office is. now off to bed, i'm not having you sleep in my class tomorrow.”

lockhart was not a pain that harry hadn't expected. the man harassed him constantly and couldn't teach. if a man possessed was better than this fraud then that was a concern, when harry wrote home his aunt had told him to knee the man in the groin the next time he tried to touch him without his consent. harry appreciated the sentiment but didn't really want the detention that'd come from it. other than that though his year had had a quiet start, snape was as mean as he'd ever been but he'd gotten used to it over the year. snape was a dick and everyone knew it. even blaise and theo confirmed this, they said he never came round their dorms except to tell them off for things that they had been caught in. even if he saw something and no one else did he wouldn't mention it but if someone else did the consequences were severe. 

as his defense lessons were solely hufflepuff they were even more tiresome. harry couldn't understand why the five of them hadn't been paired up with another house but as it was their lessons were very dull with long awkward silences as no one volunteered to play out the characters within his book. a single read of any book on magical creatures would confirm lockhart to be full of shit as blaise continuously reminded them, harry couldn't tell if it was defiance or genuine emotion that led to theo ignoring blaise and saying stupid things like 'oh no but he's pretty though'. harry was surprised at the level of vanity that gildroy displayed and at all the students who ate it up.

within their little group they’d all agreed that the man was an idiot but theo continued to lament about how attractive the man was, much to blaise’s annoyance. from what blaise had told them theo was the only one in their class who had any appreciation for the man, even the slytherin girls were repulsed by the man’s dramatics. apparently only crabbe and goyle were stupid enough to volunteer in lockhart’s class.

“we have plans for halloween.” theo announced as he flung himself into a chair at their table at the library. the group had found it was the best place for them to hang out without being bothered due to their different houses.

“i assume it’s not the feast then?” neville asked.

“of course not, harry doesn’t like celebrating halloween just like you don’t like guy fawkes.” theo replied.

“so what are we doing?”

“going to this.” theo presented the table with a very bright piece of paper that had a beautiful drawing covering it, the top and bottom of the page had writing in a deep purple script.

“sparks: the poetry event of the year.” blaise read out then looked up at theo. “you’ve been hanging about daphne again haven’t you?”

“yes but that’s not the point. it’s just going to be a small group of us across different houses and years where you can read or just listen.” theo smiled hopefully at his friends and harry knew they had to go. it was rare theo let himself get excited like this and it was way better than dealing with an actual halloween.

the boys exchanged a glance and blaise shrugged helplessly, harry thought it was kind of sweet that blaise thought he was subtle when they all knew he’d do anything in his power to keep theo happy.

“of course we will come thee.” neville replied and they all smiled as theo bounced in excitement. 

* * *

halloween night found the four boys all in a classroom in the charms corridor only two down from where they’d had their adventure the year before. harry tried to not think about the events of the year prior much, it seemed that night there was a lot for him to not be thinking about.

the poetry itself was fine, harry didn’t really get a lot of it but he was pleased to see luna and sue there together, he made a point of dragging his own friends over to sit with the two ravenclaw girls he had found himself fond of. daphne greengrass also drifted over to them and sat next to theo. from what harry could gather the event was actually the product of daphne and theo’s imagination but they had tricked a couple of seventh year hufflepuffs into actually hosting the thing.

harry clapped hard when luna read out her poem from some strange tye-dye paper - even though he hadn’t understood a word of it- and had nearly fell asleep as a fifth year gryffindor read out a very long wordsworth poem (which turned out to just be an extract of an even longer piece) but it was theo that their group was looking forward to.

_ “ i used to think brown eyes   
were the dullest of them all   
just mud or chocolate or wood   
but now when i see you _

_ i have no time for blue   
the skies and seas won’t move me   
ice is just ice   
cornflower blue turned to grey _

_ green was once meadows    
and summer trees   
now shakespeare’s monster    
stares back at me _

_ and the chaos of hazel   
is just a poor mockery   
of the beauty and awe   
that is now clear to me” _

theo’s voice echoed through the classrooms with his faint northern lilt making the poem seem all the more sincere. harry knew nothing of poetry but he knew his friends well and he couldn’t help but be in awe of theo. he knew that the boy liked books and fictions but that he could write something that soft was a shock, he’d expected rage and horror but theo had surprised him with some soft tender confession. 

harry turned to see neville grinning and blaise smirking and he couldn’t help but feel wrong footed, apparently he was the only one of his friends shocked by this revelation that theo nott had a heart.

looking back he wished he’d lingered on that thought longer because that’s when the hissing started

_ let me rip you….let me tear you…..let me kill you…. _

“harry!” a voice called to him. “harry, snap out of it!”

he turned to see neville shaking him looking concerned. he glanced around and it seemed like no one else had heard the voice.

“didn’t you hear that?”

“hear what harry?”

“the voice, it said it was going to kill.”

“sue tell blaise and theo that harry felt ill, we’re just going to get some air.” neville ordered and dragged harry out of the room. luna was quick to follow the pair out.

* * *

harry knew he had had a decent enough life. he was well loved and had great friends that stuck by him. in fact he would say he quite liked his life but one thing he would change would be his abysmal luck. it seemed typical that all the victims to the chamber had been linked to him in some way or another. 

first the cat that everyone hated on halloween. then colin creevey, a first year who had taken to following harry around with a camera, then justin which was when people started to believe that it was harry behind these attacks. harry was pretty sure this was the point they would anyway but his ability to speak to snakes being leaked at the same time didn’t help. harry’s old herbology partner and one of luna’s tormentors really was just a nail in the coffin.

the ministry took dumbledore and the groundskeeper away. the heir took the youngest weasley, the whole school watched on as ronald screamed at harry for it.

* * *

_ harry, _

_ your last letter concerned us greatly. it’s unacceptable that your peers can just get away with treating you like this with no cause. you’re a twelve year old and a well behaved one at that. that stupid excuse for a headmaster should have been the one doing something to help you, not dragging you up to his office just to be cryptic like that. _

_ thank you for keeping up with your letter writing, me and your uncle treasure each one. _

_ i beg you not to worry so much about us though. regulus is fine, a bit stressed but he is still working so i’m sure he’ll be fine the second you come back home to us. iris has been a great help in keeping him occupied of course. the two seem to have a very elaborate tale being acted out in the corridor with her barbies. i have raised a complete brat. _

_ write soon with an update and tell me how your friends are getting on. _

_ love, _

_ petunia _

_ps. how’s that girl you made friends with, lara was it?_

* * *

secrets will be spilt. secrets will be gutted and hung their seams till the whole world thinks they know them. secrets will scream into the abyss till someone turns on a light.

  1. gildroy was taken at wand point by luna. she spoke in riddles. she spoke of the curse of the unknowing, the most evil curse there was because it allows horrors to be covered.
  2. myrtle spilled about a pair of yellow eyes to a boy with too many secrets, more secrets than his mother had had lovers. myrtle spoke of the harshness and bullying and how somedays staring into those evil eyes had been a relief because at least now olive hornby was gone.
  3. harry spoke the language of snakes to a tap and a man of his time rolled in his grave. a man who had done so much for fear had turned because that was not his heir but the room let him in anyway.
  4. a hat showed four boys and a girl the truth when he revealed the silver sword, not for the hero but for the clumsy boy who had so often wondered why? why had he been put into the house for lions when he was just a mouse?
  5. seven people left a chamber. one glaring horribly as if her life hadn’t just been saved, one with no memory of who he was or where or why, and five friends. a hero, a mage, a seer, a deceptor, a bard, but mostly a family. they stayed tight lipped.



“but what do you mean it’s over?” dumbledore asked for the fifth time. he tried to catch each of their eyes but not a single one looked up.

“ginerva you better tell the headmaster what on merlin grave happened or you will be in huge trouble when we get home! I did not raise you to be so disrespectful!” a pudgy red haired woman yelled at her only daughter and harry knew he was too late to stop theo from putting his foot in it.

“with all due respect,” theo said in a tone that implied literally no respect was due, “after the third kid i doubt you did much raising, maybe one of her brothers would get a better response. i hear one’s a dragon tamer?”

“theodore.” regulus black said from the corner of the room where he had been silent before.

“yes?”

“not the time to get the dragon tamer’s flu address.” theo hung his head bashfully whilst the other boys tried not to laugh.

“yes, sir.”

“regulus, perhaps you could clear up what happened?” the headmaster asked pleasantly. “i’m sure you have your theories?”

“i’m sure that any theory that lucius here could come up with would be far more enlightening than anything i could say.” regulus nodded. “now i’m afraid i have to take my leave, i’m seeing a client in twenty minutes and do not wish to be late. remember our chat headmaster, see you soon harry.”

“bye uncle!”

* * *

the year ended quietly. no one was completely sure what had happened at the end of the year but it was clear that harry had stopped it rather than caused it. a week after students became unpetrified justin pulled harry aside.

“iwantedtosaysorry.” the boy rushed out.

“huh?”

“i wished to apologise.” the boy mumbled this time.

“okay.” harry replied shortly.

“okay?” justin looked confused.

“well, i don’t forgive you just like that. you were really mean to me and my friends. i’m also probably not going to forget but i acknowledge that the apology was a good start to making amends so...okay.”

“right.” justin nodded, shifted and nodded again. “okay.”

he turned on his heel and left.

**Author's Note:**

> between finishing and posting i had 5 mins becuase monopoly luv u alll xxx


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